Christian singles tired of traditional online dating may soon have a new option. If you think sites like Tinder and Bumble don't have enough focus on the patriarchy, then Dominion Dating may be for you.
It advertises itself as a new kind of dating website, where biblically-living men and women can match, meet, then get on their way to being fruitful and multiplying.
They’re proudly patriarchal, declaring in their membership agreement that they “affirm male headship as normative in the spheres of family, church, civil governance, and society-at-large, believing that God has endowed men with real, limited authority to govern well for the good of mankind and the glory of God.
Oh, and they also reject “careerism” for women, who, according to Dominion Dating, are better kept at home in wifely submission.
"No Feminists Allowed"
Dominion’s entire philosophy is based on the idea that a woman’s role is in the house, and a wife should only pursue education or employment when it is financially necessary to the family.
The company seems to revel a bit in the controversy they’re bound to create, calling their membership agreement “down-right offensive to the masses of culturally-conformed Christians who flood most dating sites” and marketing themselves as a dating website free of “feminists” and “soyboys” on Youtube. You can view their controversial ad below:
In order to ensure their users are living by their standards, there’s a laundry list of values users must agree to, and the website will apparently be vetting users to ensure they’re living by their biblical standards. In fact, they’ll require a pastoral reference at signup.
As part of their membership agreement, you must be a member of an evangelical church that upholds ‘biblical marriage’ - meaning, no churches that recognize or perform gay weddings. You must also be sexually "pure" – AKA no premarital sex, no lustful thoughts, and women must dress modestly.
Will Users Swipe Right?
So… is there a market for Dominion in an already oversaturated online dating marketplace with websites as niche as FarmersOnly and SeaCaptainDate, is there room for (another) Christian dating website?
That question is yet to be determined. With such controversial and abrasive messaging, it would seem they're for publicity at the expense of alienating potential users.
Dominion claims they're aiming for an August 2021 launch with 1,000 verified members ready to find love on day one. They know that the odds of one of the ~500 members of the opposite sex being in your area is pretty low, so they say users may need to travel to meet each other and find a “godly spouse.”
Hopefully those matching algorithms are good. Catching a plane cross-country is a lot of effort for a first date.
One wonders how many women, in particular, will be signing up for this service. Typical dating apps already have an imbalanced ratio of men to women – how many women will really be paying to sign up for a service that loudly proclaims their role is to be pregnant and stay in the home?
What do you think? Is there a market for a Christian dating website with rules this strict, or will Dominion Dating find themselves – ahem – dumped by their users?
48 comments
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Daniel Gray
Their site, they can do whatever they want and restrict who they want.
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
For once Daniel child has said something sensible.
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David Arthur Lewis
There's a local group of evangelical church ladies in my town that advertise meetings every week and actively recruit young women and girls. They call themselves the Handmaidens of the Lord. Sound familiar?
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Tony Zoltai
"Handmaidens"??? Wow. Probably never watched the show/read the book.
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Stephanie A Willey
Dominion (Christian Dominionism) is a real and active current socio-political movement, the fundamentals and goals of which remind me of the type of radical suppressive and overtly violent groups acting throughout the middle-east, Africa, and Indonesia today. Dominion = social fascism, and in my life, family, and world is and will remain unacceptable. But then since I am an avowed feminist I will not be allowed on their dating website.
And what / who IS a "soyboy"? Who is experiencing the defamation of this distinction?
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Rev Frankie PG
One of the greatest freedoms that we have endowed upon us in the U.S. is the Freedom of Choice. If people choose to live like this and they're not breaking any laws, I say more power to them!! We must remember the 3 Fs: Feed, Finance & Fornicate, if someone, including a group, isn't affecting any of those to you, why should it matter? Btw, I'm not part of this group, when someone says Dominion I start thinking leather and chains. =0)
According to Wikipedia a Soy boy is a pejorative term often used in online communities to describe men lacking masculine characteristics. The term bears many similarities and has been compared to the slang terms cuck and low-T ('low testosterone'), two other terms popularly used as an insult for male femininity by online communities.
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Paul G Simon
Look out you soy milk drinkers, we will root you out of the gene pool ....
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JaZe
😆
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
Nelly might be another good word for them. I've heard that term used many times.
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Amber Fry
As near as I can tell a soy boy is basically a derogatory term for a guy who doesn't show overly exerted displays of testosterone.... as usually, bigotry abound.
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Anisahoni
Oh Laawdy, this is so funny. It claims to be a place "where biblically-living men and women can match" while exercising misogyny and discrimination. So typical of Christians. So dead to the world, dead inside, still believing in the myth of the guy in the sky and being spiritually bankrupt. Ridiculous, and short sighted. No wonder these hypocritical religions are losing people left and right. Good riddance.
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Rev Frankie PG
Both of you make me laugh. Better religion? If there was only such a thing. People can believe however they want, as long as it doesn't break laws. Pointing to Christians as the problem with society is absolutely hilarious, it would be just like pointing to a Muslim for terrorist attacks. ALL religions and groups have their good and bad people. Passing ill-judgement on a group of people is what's disgusting.
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
I second that emotion, Catherine, and am glad to see those christians keeping it to themselves, not dating the good people, who are of other and better faiths. Those Christian girlfriends will drive a man crazy! I haven't made that mistake since 1989, and hope I never will again .
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Minister Mike
No matter how stupid, arrogant, mysoginist, ignorant (curable) such an idea is, it's their platform, so their rules. How many sign on is yet to be seen but, no doubt, there are many fringes on that coat.
If anybody needs a letter of recommendation from an ordained minister, feel free to ask me for one. mikelohmo@gmailcom.
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Thom
Everyone has their choice in life. If they can't find someone in their daily lives maybe they need to seek another path. If this site is for them then, go for it. Do I see this website being a "popular" place. Really it should be for Mormon's who are accustom to being controlled.
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Rev Frankie PG
Their site, their audience. One of the greatest freedoms that we have here in the U.S.A. is Freedom of Choice. If they choose to be Dominions and they're not breaking any laws nor truly hurting anyone, then let them be. I'm assuming that this website is for those that are 18 years of age and over, aka- consenting adults?
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T Kosse`
Well screw them who really want to be a part of their group anyway.
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
I would never again make the mistake of dating a Christian girl. Never again, never again, never again!!!
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Rev Frankie PG
@Carl, is that you clicking your heels or did you see BeetleJuice one too many times?
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Ralph A. Lawrence
There may be a niche market for this type of dating, but my guess is that it is limited by the way it is so narrowly defined. But that is the intent. There is nothing wrong with people looking for a good match in terms of religious belief. A husband a wife ought to find common ground in the faith arena. This new group expects their clients to follow the restrictive standards of conservative evangelical Christianity, and they have a right to hold up that standard. At the same time, they seem to overlook the very Word of God they claim to observe, that we are saved by faith, not by the works righteousness of obedience to rules (They know how this is defined in the Letters to the Romans, the Ephesians, and other New Testament books). The evangelical conservatives demonstrate all the time, that the more restrictive the rules are defined, the more likely they will be broken. In other words, out of step with America generally. To each his/her own. We honor their effort, even as we believe there is a place for other types of groups as well, liberals, atheists, interfaith, specific faith categories (Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Muslim, etc.). I wish them success, even if I can't endorse their intention.
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James Lynn Jones
I wish them hell.
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James Lynn Jones
Comment removed by user.
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Alexander Clarke
All I can say is they deserve each other. Maybe they will have The Donald officiate. Proof that there is no limit to human stupidity.
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John P Maher
AND WHAT ABOUT F R E E S P E A C H ??? CHRISTIANS are YOU PART of THE BIG LIE, YOU WANT tRUMPs MONEY, WELL HE GONNA BE BROKE as USUAL REAL SOON ! and HE CAN'T HANDLE NOTHING NOW so WHAT do YOU EXPECT WHEN HE GOES to PRISON ???
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Erika Suzannah Avery
God gave us free will for a reason, and I know many women whom have an IQ over 150 (I'm one of them). I also know many men whom are lucky if their IQ is 50. Gender makes no difference!
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taycomama
With an IQ over 150 you should know the proper use of "who" and "whom."
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
Literacy doesn't have anything to do with intelligence quotient. That has more to do with reasoning ability than education. Being more or less literate has more to do with aptitude; some are better at some things than others.
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Rev Frankie PG
@Carl - GREAT point, look at how many geniuses were poorly educated (i.e.- Wright Brothers).
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flugo
Excellent observation!!!
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flugo
'taco mama': In your sentence above, should not the period FOLLOW the quotation mark?!
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CB Cuff
Excellent observation!
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CB Cuff
Membership is for those who live emotionally constipated lives. Woodstock Festival helped 'unplug' how Americans thought up until then. Aren't dating services meant to explore your options, not limit them?? Borriinng.
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
They should have more fiber in their diets, CB. Too much constipation can pave the way to a peri -rectal absess.
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Nicholas J Page
I disagree with online dating sites.Its up to the individual how they date not something that needs ramming down their throats Reverend Nicholas J Page.. UK
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Rev Frankie PG
Love ramming down their throats, when we're talking about dating, HOWEVER, if to be taken in the context that I think you might have been making it, a person decides how often they're on their phone, not the phone.
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flugo
Excellent observation!!
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Ronaldo
"You must also be sexually "pure" – AKA no premarital sex, no lustful thoughts, and women must dress modestly." We'll take these in reverse order. Who defines "modestly" when it comes to dress? The woman, or the church? What if their views clash? I've never met an adult that does not admit to having a lustful thought, even some devout pastors I know. They were able, as I was many times, to set aside those thoughts and never act on them, but the thoughts were there briefly. Does the "no premarital sex" mean that, if you failed to be chaste even one time, you are permanently denied access to this dating site? I'm not sure about the God this site follows, but my God is a God of second chances. You make a mistake, repent, and He will forgive you. It does not sound as if this site would be as godly, if they will not forgive you for one mistake.
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Douglas Bruce Rudd
Just look at the early 50s that was a bible-oriented societie now look at now get it good
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JT of the plains
That Dominion Dating site looks like a scam to raise money. Maybe there is a market, but they are still seeking out donations now and it looks like they are using kickstarter to fund that. No guarantee of anything on kickstarter, so for those who jump in and support Dominion Dating, I just say, you are probably being taken as a rube by conmen.
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James Lynn Jones
AH I remember the days of stupid youth. I went where IT pointed looking for the vulnerable and stupid also. Then comes a day ya have to grow hell up and awaken to right and wrong, do unto others, etc. Don't pick and choose the 'parts' of being "biblical" you want. Plus being "biblical" probably isn't close to what most think. I could never live "biblical" as I am a sinner and know I am. Just do the right thing in this old world and try to get along is hard enough, but try I do. USING anyone is about as far from 'right' there can be, placing DEMANDS upon someone is farther yet, and mentioning GOD in any of this absolute ignorance should be punishing.
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Rev Ned
I am not a fan of Talibanism, Muslim or Christian.
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Rev. Jonathan Peebles
There are so many Christian dating sites already and not all Christians are the same when there are around 2000 (if not more) different denominations of the religion itself. There are even Christian Feminists ect...
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David Arthur Lewis
Who Would Jesus Hate?
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David Arthur Lewis
There was a time when religion ruled over all of Europe and the Middle East. We call it the Dark Ages.
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CB
There are those who will be attracted to the site. While many would not agree to the terms stated, as long as no one is harming anyone else, the choice is there to either participate or not.
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Christian
Do not turn to machines for your biological expression. Abandon technology & let Love guide you in all Spirit and Truth.
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Christopher Edward Smith
Funny article, but on the other hand this site is making their requirements known. If one doesn’t like the requirements, then one doesn’t have to make noise about it. Would it not be easier to just say “ok, this site isn’t for me”? If a woman knowingly accepts the terms, then she obviously agrees and is looking for that lifestyle. What may be ridiculous to us may be an actual desire to someone else. The question I have is, why do we sometimes become emotionally engaged in areas that are of no beneficial concern to our own individual journeys?🤔😊 Mantra for today: “I will stay in my own lane, that is designed perfectly for me” 🥰☺️💫 Continued Love and Light🌺 ☀️🌖🌺
Perhaps some of these 'men' should stay home....perhaps this site was created by very insecure and controlling folks who just are not able to deal with strong women!
I only shudder to imagine the type of guys who will sign up .... but to be fair aren't there some women who are into that sort of thing ? I kind of have a horrible feeling that this could be a big hit .....